When I finished the manuscript for The Zen of MLM late last year, the very next thing I did was write to marketing superstar Seth Godin to see if he would take a look at it. Seth and I had never spoken, and I had only the most tenuous connection. (Networking Times once did an interview with him—although it was not me who did the interview.)
Seth Godin, if you are not familiar with the name, is widely hailed as one of the most brilliant marketers alive. Business Week called him “the ultimate entrepreneur for the Information Age.” His Permission Marketing (1999) was very influential in network marketing circles. A fw weeks ago his latest book, The Dip, hit #5 on the New York Times hardcover advice bestseller list. (You’ll notice, I have his blog on this site’s blogroll. That’s how highly I think of his writing.)
Seth is also considered by some as being not so big a fan of network marketing. I wasn’t sure how he’d greet my book—or if he’d greet it at all. After all, he’s a famous and busy guy.
Six weeks later he wrote back with an endorsement—and what he said was so wonderful, indeed, that I put it on the book’s front cover. In fact, its twenty-four words comprise the only endorsement that appears anywhere on or in the book. . .
But not on the book’s web site. One of Seth’s standard endorsement conditions is that his quote not be used on the Internet, just on the actual book—which is why you won’t find his quote anywhere online (here included). If you want to see what he said, you’ll have to get a copy of the book!
P.S. I thought Seth’s quote was just about the nicest things anyone had ever said about my writing . . . until today, when he topped it. I’m about to publish another book (coauthored with my friend Bob Burg), this one with Portfolio (who happens to also be Seth’s publisher)—and he just sent me an enthusiastic endorsement for that book, too! With the same condition—sorry, can’t quote it here. What I can tell you is the title of the book: The Go-Giver.
A few weeks ago on my other blog, I wrote a post called “Gazing at Asia” about the future of business between Asia and the West, and promised I’d say more when I returned from Hawaii. I’m back, and I said more over there — but because that blog is not quite photo-ready (it is being refurbished and will be by next week), I’m posting the photo here.
This is the view Ana and I had from our terrace dinner on June 10 — looking out at Asia.
What does it mean? You can read the full post here — but the bottom line is, if you grow a strong network in the U.S. (and/or Europe, or anywhere in the West) today, you’re going to be looking at a huge business in Asia in the next ten years.
As the first few hundred people ordered, received and started reading their copies of The Zen of MLM, I turned 53—and as I did, here’s what I was looking at:
This is my view from a helicopter over the gaping Waimea Canyon on Kauai, shot with my trusty Canon SD400 from a helicopter on June 10, 2007—a live shot of the awe-inspiring, stupefying power of water to cut through rock.
Talk about patience and persistence!
Here is a second shot, seconds later:
What does this have to do with the Zen of MLM? (In truth, I would have put these shots on my journal—my “other blog”—but that blog hasn’t yet gotten the Lukemeister treatment and been updated to be photo-capable. Coming soon.)
Actually, quite a bit. Lao Tzu says, “The highest good is like water,” and goes on to explain why that mysterious substance we today call the “universal solvent” is singled out for such high praise. And that has quite a bit to do with how network marketing operates, in its finest hour.
How?
Ah — that’s for you to comment! This is not a lecture — it’s a conversation.
Your turn.
It seems appropriate that today, the day this blog officially launches, someone asked me this question: “So, what’s the book about?” Truthfully, I wasn’t sure exactly what to say.
On the face of it, it’s not all that easy a question to answer — because it’s about lots of things. As a collection (seventy-three writings spread over sixteen years), it’s not like it’s wrapped around a single central theme or organizing message.
Or is it? I turned the book over and looked at what it says on the back cover:
Just two decades of experience and insight.”
Hmm. Maybe that’s the best answer.
Welcome to the Zen of MLM blog: no hype, no theory, no razzle-dazzle. Just a conversation about the Zen of MLM.
